In the first video Del Monaco sings a sustained A FLAT - at no point does he
sing a B flat in the entire scene, less so a High C. I disagree that Del
Monaco was not in his prime - the rest of his voice is incredible and all his
trademark "smalto" is there...
On Mon, 9 Oct 2017 15:46:55 -0500, Les Mitnick
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>The first video is noted as being sung in 1967. By that time, it was
getting rather late for del Monaco, but that long held B flat is still
something to hear. I would assume that the second video comes from an
earlier time. He drops out, lets the orchestra do the introduction to the
ending, and then takes a big whacking lunge at the top C, which he pulls
off reasonably well.
>
>Another great version of this cabaletta and ending can be heard from
Franco Corelli on the 1960 Callas recording under Serafin. Corelli sings
EVERYTHING and the top C shines like a beacon. Still another but very
different approach is taken by John Osborn on the Bartoli recording. Of
course it's a smaller voice, but Osborn embellishes the cabaletta very
interestingly, and I believe he even slides up to a few top Ds before he
concludes the aria on the top C.
>
>It's really a hell of an aria and the cabaletta is a real barn-burner.
>
>> On October 9, 2017 at 11:43 AM Robert Cohen wrote:
>>
>>
>> Funny by how much perception of a voice can differ. I was in the
house for
>> opening night, the 3rd October and for the HD.
>>
>> In these performances I was impressed by the sheer power and
beauty of
>> his voice and was quite flabbergasted when he took the written High
C
>> in "Meco al altar.." which is a devilishly difficult note on an I vowel.
Many
>> tenors I have heard live in this role leave this note out.
>>
>> If I had to nitpick it is true that on the first night the optional B flat
>> crowning the cabaletta was a tad cloudy. However on the 3rd he
sung it
>> with clarion beauty and on the HD he decided not to sing it at all and
sung
>> the written A flat instead, much like Del Monaco does in the video
below. I
>> have no idea why he left it out as he sung a beautiful High C in Meco
and
>> he sung two interpolated B naturals with Sandra as the opera
progressed.
>> Perhaps he felt a momentary uncomfortableness in the throat?
>>
>> Meanwhile here is a video of Del Monaco not singing the B flat - not
even
>> the written one by Bellini on the word L' Empio-
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz-Er0c2ZU8
>>
>> Here Del Monaco takes the B flat but omits the WRITTEN B flat Bellini
>> writes -
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=263sEWtKIbI
>>
>> Not comparing the two tenors of course but even a legendary great
like Del
>> Monaco, with perhaps a voice more ideal to Pollione than Callejjas,
doesn't
>> sound completely comfortable in a Cabaletta that to be completely
honest,
>> is no great shakes.
>>
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